My father, Jim Stephenson was a well known car builder in So Cal. He managed George Barris's shop and sub-contracted building cars for him in his own shop for many years.

We built this car in a shop we had in Pacoima, CA. Evel came to the shop several times while we were building the car, and even gave us tickets to the 1st Long Beach Grand Prix, which he sponsored a car in.

The car outfitted with two pneumatic cylinders inside the engine compartment that were activated by a switch that would blow the hood off of the car. We made the hood in two pieces so it came apart when the "exploded".

We bought a used American Motors Gremlin to build this car because it was so similar in size and shape. The body was made of fiberglass, but the mold was made from the Gremlin and the chassis and floor pan in this car are from that Gremlin.

While we were building this car a guy named Darryl Starbird, another So Cal car builder, was building the "Evel Knievel Wheelie Car" a few miles away.

We had almost no time allowed to build this car. I think we had just a bit over one month, and I pulled several all nighters to help get it done.

It wasn't our best work, but it was a fun project. Not long after we finished we bought a Ferrari Daytona from Evel that someone he lent it to crashed up a bit.

Must play my DVD of Viva Knievel! today! :o)